This Is Your Last Chance At Making Us Work
by The Kyd
Summary: It's been two years since Edward and Bella fell in love...and last saw each other. Now time is running out: Edward wants to marry Tanya. Can Bella make them fall in love again before it’s too late? OOC AU It’s a mystery! Please read!
1. Back Again

It was strange to be back. After two years I was sort of hoping never to see the place again. I guess that's what happens when you let yourself hope.

"Bella!" a voice screamed.

"What?!" I unlatched the window just as a small handful of pebbles were thrown full force at my head. "Gah!" I stuck my head out the window, probably not the best idea after the rocks, and went "What is your—oh."

Alice Cullen was standing on the lawn three stories down with her hands on her hips, her brother, Emmett Cullen, behind her ready to lob more rocks into my room. "Bella!" she calls out. "He's back!" _No, no, no._ She must've seen the expression on my face because she dashed into the house calling "Isabella Marie Swan-Cullen you will get down here and you will talk to him!"

Actually Alice, I was thinking more along the lines of climbing out the window and running for my life. Because the last person I want to see right now is him.

-----------------------

I frantically threw all the various articles of clothing I had unpacked into the suitcase on my bed. I had red shirt, a white lacy thing (skirt, maybe?), tailored black pants, an old T-shirt, some weird blue thing, a scarf or two, and a jewelry box in my hand when my door swung open. I screamed. Everything I held fell to the floor.

Alice was standing there looking angry as… well, something really angry. All four feet ten inches of her was blocking my door out of pure fury, her spiky black hair standing up on edge. She looked ready to kill. "Bella Swan! You did _not _come all the way here to _flake_ out the way you did before _especially_ not when this time we all really, really _need_ you!!"

I sank to the floor beneath my bed and my fingers found the fabric of the silky red blouse. "I guess not," I mumbled.

"Now come over here and let me fix your hair. We've got an engagement to break."


	2. Second Impressions

After Alice was satisfied that I'd been sufficiently transformed I began the descent down the famous winding staircase in the Cullen Mansion. Jeez, I mean, am I not enough of a klutz that you have to install some ridiculous spiral stepping stone of death nearby? Really, people, really?

I blame it all on the shoes. They were an off-white that supposedly complimented the pale pink of the dress I was wearing. I think the designers must've spent a bit too long on color and not enough on structure. It's so obvious that none of what happened was my fault.

I had seen myself in the mirror and I didn't look half bad. My hair was in dark banana curls flowing down my back and the dress was pretty and made my skin look nice. I straightened up due most likely to confidence, my mortal enemy.

I walked down the stairs slowly listening to the click of the heels on the marble steps.

Click.

Step.

Click.

Step.

Click. CLACK!

Step.

Step.

Step.

Step. BANG!

Somehow the heel of the shoe snapped sending me tumbling down the stairs _most _ungracefully. I rolled underneath a table just as the door to the mansion opened.

It was Edward and Tanya. They were strolling in arm in arm. She looked, unfortunately, beautiful as always with her strawberry blonde locks of hair piled tastefully on her head, wearing a sleeveless silky green dress. He looked really… great. Not any different. His hair was a sort of tousled bronze, his body lean and tall, and his eyes… were so… _green_… like emeralds. I was staring in a way that I guess could've been mistaken for adoringly when Edward's head suddenly snapped over in my direction. His eyes found mine. I stayed there for about two seconds before I knew I had to leave. I jumped up, knocking the back of my head on the table and scrambled up. _Brilliant._

Tanya looked taken aback, then angry, but her anger was nothing compared to Edward's.

My hand reached up and held the back of my head. Ow, migraine. I looked like a mess, like a huge colossal disastrous mess. My dress was crumpled, one sleeve tucked in, one not. My hair had a windswept look to it and _not _in a good way.

So I did what I do best.

I ran.

_______

Figuratively what I do best. Figuratively. Just because I run from everything doesn't mean I'm actually a good _runner_. Momentary flashback to my falling down the stairs when I was _walking._

I tripped over my non-existent heel, but kept running. It was very awkward since one foot was taller than the other. I picked up the edges of my skirts and looked around. I couldn't run forever… I had to hide. I'm pretty good at that too. Hiding.

I hear Edward say to Tanya, "Excuse me a minute I'll be right back." And Tanya going, "Oh, it's alright." Even though by the tone of her voice you can tell it's not. I smiled a little bit to myself and then fell. I whipped my head around and saw Edward coming towards me looking furious. It's kind of funny that he caught up to me so fast when he was walking and I was running.

I hastily crawled into a side room and tried to slam the door but he stuck his foot out. I slowly raised my head and looked at him. Oh, he looked mad.

"Hi," I said.

"What are you doing here?" he asks. He makes each word its own separate thought to try and scare me. Well, it's not going to work.

"I live here," I say even though its not really true, but it's the kind of thing that would tick him off. _And you really want to tick him off_, I heard Alice's voice in my mind.

"No you don't." He glares at me.

"Well, technically--"

"Technically, you still don't."

"But _technically--_"

"Bella, just stop. What are you doing here?" _Trying to break your engagement to Tanya so she won't ruin your family name? Trying to make you fall madly in love with me the way I am with you?_

I pretend to look thoughtful "Coming home?"

He looks horrified for a second. "Wait. You don't mean—You can't possibly mean—You're not _staying here_ are you?"

Another thing I like to do? Pinning the blame on someone else. "Your sister invited me," I told him. He ran his fingers through his hair. It was one of his top five signs that he was exasperated. I experienced all of them multiple times every day when I lived here.

"No, this is just… not happening." I see determination flash in his eyes and I wonder briefly what he's going to do before it becomes really, really obvious.

Edward bends down to my level and says. "You are going back to wherever you've been for the last two years."

"Edward," I say, scooting backwards as he reaches for me. "Edward, think about this!" He grabs me and lifts me up. "Edward don't!" Edward throws me over his shoulder and we leave the room.

I started wriggling around so he'll drop me. "Put me down!"

"No," he says with finality.

Both my shoes slip off my feet and hit the floor with a loud clatter. Tanya comes tottering over on her heels. "Eddie! Eddie what's wrong? What are you doing, Eddie? What's going on?"

Edward tenses and I _know _it's because he doesn't like being called Eddie. Because I _know _him better than she'll ever know him.

I begin talking out of spite, but really how can you blame me? Edward can be so irritating sometimes. "Yeah, Eddie what's going on? Eddie? What are you doing? Eddie, I'm a moron I can't figure out what you're doing. Eddie, help me?" I look up to see Tanya's eyes looking bewildered and confused, her mouth in a pout. Hah.

"Bella." Edward says.

"Yes?" I say hopefully.

"Shut up."

"Right," I mumble. It has to be a sign. He must love _me _because he'd never tell _Tanya _to shut up. Maybe I'm reading the signs wrong…

We go through a door out onto the lawn, Tanya still following.

"Edward _please_, I haven't seen you guys in so long!" I beg hanging limply over his shoulder.

"Whose fault is that?" he asks gruffly.

I feel a blaze of anger run through me. "Yours! I didn't _want _to leave, all right maybe I did but it's your own fault! I would've stayed if you'd just--"

"Just what, Bella?" he says flatly.

"Loved me back!" I scream and start flailing around again. If he thinks he can get me to leave he's wrong. I'm not leaving, not until he realizes…

"I _did _love you back!" he shouts. "I asked you to marry me didn't I?"

"I _did _marry you didn't I?!"

"You _left!!_"

"You took me for granted!"

"I thought you would still _be there!!_"

My voice raised so I could drown him out. "WELL, I GUESS YOU LEARNED SOMETHING DIDN'T YOU?"

"ABOUT _YOU_, YEAH!" He yells.

"THIS ISN'T MY FAULT! I WAS SO YOUNG! I DIDN'T GET IT! THIS IS NOT MY FAULT!" I scream wildly as he wrestles with me to keep me still.

"STOP MOVING!!"

"STOP THINKING YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH ME!"

"I NEVER THOUGHT THAT!"

"YES YOU _DID_!!!" I try to wrench away from him, but it only upsets his balance. He stumbles, still carrying me to the side of the lawn. His knee hits the side of a fountain… and we both topple in.

It's actually not that cold and it's pretty funny. We look at each other and for a second I think he's going to laugh so I smile at him. Whatever he was feeling stops in its tracks as he frowns, pushes me off his lap and climbs out of the fountain to stomp away.

I look around innocently as Emmett and Alice appear. Emmett is laughing hysterically, Alice has her head in her hands.

I try to smile at them, embarrassed. "I think that went well."

**A/N: Hi, everyone! (lol more like no one, no reviews yet ******** )**

**This is my first fanfic so I hope it's okay! ******** Just letting you know that chapter lengths might be inconsistent… I think it will just be as long as what I want to happens does happen then the chapter will be that long. Please review!! It would totally make my day! I would love to know what you guys think! Also… there might be some spelling/grammar issues in here. I don't have a Beta or anything so ya'll just have to ignore those. I'll try to catch as much as I can. Remember, please review!!! Thanks ******


	3. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

**Hi people! I don't have a good excuse, or anyone at all so without further ado here's our chapter…! Yay! I'd like to thank all the people who've reviewed or added me to favorites. Eek!! It makes me so happy!!! I thought it would be really mean to make you wait all this time for this really short chapter but I wanted it to end here so you folks get TWO. I'm too nice, aren't I? Haha, not really. Anyway… review!!**

"Bella, Bella, Bella SWAN!!" Alice yells in this weird sing-song-y angry voice.

"Yes?!" I yelp.

Alice smoothes back her hair and takes a deep breath. Her voice wavers from what sounds like tension. "I would've thought that after all this time you would've had it in you to-- TO MAKE THAT GO A LITTLE BIT BETTER!!!!!" She huffs. I am plastered against the side of the fountain in fear.

Alice smiles a shaky smile, "If you do not make him dump her we will have little TANYA BOZO JUNIORS RUNNING AROUND HERE!!" She clears her throat, turns on her heel and storms away. What is with those Cullen kids and tempers?

I look to Emmett for an explanation and he mouths, "Jasper Hale is coming to dinner."


	4. Dinner Disaster

**Next chapter will be a lot, lot, **_**lot **_**sooner. Be excited!!**

I push open the door to the kitchen and step inside. Emmett told me that Esme might be in here. She's not. I turn on my heel to leave… and walk right into her.

"Esme!" I cry.

"Oh, Bella," she says, giving me a hug. She doesn't look a bit different. She has the same feathery caramel hair, same heart-shaped face, same compassionate features, and wide understanding eyes. I realize how much I've missed everyone here. With the exception of _him. _Some people never change, I guess. Seriously though, everyone here still looks like they're 18.

"Guess who's coming to dinner, Esme?" I smile.

"You?" she guesses. Oh, well, yeah.

"Besides me," I wait. Esme waits. I sigh, "I was talking to Alice and she seemed really, tense I guess, about this Jasper guy. I was just wondering what that's about…?" I trail off.

"You'll see," Esme says, shaking her head. "You will see."

---------

Dinner was horrible. Not the food of course, since Esme's an amazing chef, but the atmosphere. It was just horrible. And not just any kind of horrible, an intense, awkward, aggravated kind of horrible.

At first I thought it was because of how Edward was strenuously ignoring me. Or how Tanya kept trying to "accidently" dump her food all over me. Or how Emmett kept bringing up awkward things about Edward and I. Or how something weird was going on between Esme and Carlisle. But then I realized that it was because…. Jasper Hale came to dinner.

Alice was bent over her plate, her head tilted so far down that you couldn't see her face. The same face that had been agonizingly covered with make-up. She looked absolutely gorgeous. But it made no sense. If the person she was trying to impress was Jasper then why was she being so…. Well, _mean?_

I mean, honestly, if you want someone to like you, you shouldn't yell at them, and be nasty, and… make them fall accidently into a fountain. Are we talking about Jasper and Alice or Me and Edward?

"Edward and I," Carlisle corrects.

"Gah?!" I am completely aghast. Did I say that out loud?

"Yes," Edward smirks. Do I have no filter?

"Apparently not," Esme remarks.

My jaw is practically on the table when Tanya says, "Isabella, are you quite alright?" in this puzzled tone.

"No, I'm not alright!" I practically shout. "Everyone just heard me talking about me and Edward!"

"Edward and I," Carlisle corrects.

"Same thing!"

Carlisle trails off, "Not _really…_"

All around the table confused looks are exchanged. I can no longer tell if it's about grammar or my private thoughts.

Esme says, in a much needed effort to clear the air, "Well, Carlisle was saying that him and Edward--"

"Hence the _Edward and I_," Carlisle interjects.

Esme pauses and continues, "went out to Riley's house. I was wondering if they had a race with those stupid expensive cars of theirs. And then Carlisle asked if Riley won for once and then I said 'apparently not' because of the smirk on Edward's face and---why am I explaining this to you?"

I opened my mouth to say something then shrugged my shoulders.

"Anyways," says Jasper. There's an awkward pause.

Alice drops her knife on the wood floor with a loud clatter. She bends down to get it and Jasper looks over her. She straightens back up and bangs the back of her head on his chin.

"Ow!"

"God!"

Jasper's hand leaps to his chin in annoyance and Alice rubs the back of her head, glaring at him.

"What?!" He says in outright confusion. "You're the one who dropped it on the ground and then insisted on breaking my face in a failed attempt to retrieve it." Alice's jaw drops and I look across the table to see Emmett sniggering behind a napkin.

"God, Bella," Emmett whispers to me. "Watching them is just _hilarious. _This one time, during Christmas dinner Jasper said something about Alice's hair and she threw a dinner roll at him. And then he threw broccoli at her. So then I threw a carrot at Edward because, I mean, well, why not? And then there was this whole food fight for like 10 seconds before Esme broke it up but Alice and Jasper kept at it for a while afterward."

Carlisle overheard us and chuckled lightly to himself. "Don't tell Esme but it actually was pretty funny. Alice jumped on his head and Jasper was sent reeling backwards. They wrestled for a good 5 min---"

Esme had swung her head around and glared at Carlisle with the full force of her deep brown eyes.

"A-a-aaaand how _is _the weather in Tokyo?" Carlisle spit out.

An intense silence befalls the room with the exception of Alice and Jasper who are having some sort of heated argument. Whose idea was it for them to sit together?

Tanya attempts to make conversation. "So, Belle, what have you been up to this whole _long _time you were away?" She widens her blue eyes at me innocently. I want to stab her with a fork. But that would be too good for her. And Esme might be mad if I got blood on her tablecloth.

"Well… I actually went to--" I catch a glimpse of Edward. He's ignoring me very strenuously but I know him well enough to understand that he's listening. "I went to this…place. With these people. You know… the place?" I have no idea what I'm talking about. Why can't I just tell them that it doesn't matter where I went or what I did, that it only matters that I came back?

I look to Emmett for help. "Oh, yeah…" he says slowly. "The place… with the… thing. I know what you're talking about…"

Tanya bounces on her seat. "I don't get it. I'm confused!"

"You're not used to being stupid? What? Haven't you already been alive for, like twelve years or something?" I have no idea where that came from. Honestly.

"I. Am. Not. Twelve." She grits out.

"Oh," I say. _Shut up, Bella. _"My bad."

"Anyways, _Belle,_" Tanya continues angrily. "You wouldn't know would you? Since you haven't BEEN HERE."

Before I even realize what's going on a bread roll sails through the air and hits her square in the face. Her expression is priceless.

I continue eating when a piece of asparagus hits my neck and slides down into my shirt. I look up slowly and dangerously pulling it out and grabbing a bowl of cranberry sauce. This is war. I fling it over the table---

Where it hits not Tanya, but… Edward. It falls out and lands on the table but there's still a bit in his hair. Oh, dear. Maybe I should start running now…

The silence is deafening. No one moves a muscle except for Jasper who continues sipping his soup like nothing's wrong.

Alice elbows him.

He throws a roll at her. "What we aren't still doing that?"

She leaps up in a fury, tipping back her chair and launching herself at his head. His hands go up to try and catch her. Which he does, but then his chair tips over and she lands on top of him. She starts screaming random things at him that I don't understand.

Jasper stretches his arm up to the table grabbing a napkin from underneath his plate. It tips his soup which spills on Tanya's satin heels causing her to jump up knocking her plate into Edward's lap which was absolutely no reason for him to throw a dinner roll at me.

I retaliate throwing the same one back.

Esme dives across the table knocking all the plates towards Carlisle. "_NOO!!!! NOT THE BREAD ROLLS!!_" she screams. Carlisle stands up pushing the table cloth back in my direction. Emmett gathers all the rolls he can find chucking them with incredible speed at everyone in sight. Jasper's gagged Alice with the napkin and is now on top of her screaming for her to calm down. I look around. _Oh dear. _

"EVERYONE STOP!!!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Everyone freezes like they were Ice Sculptures. Alice knees Jasper in the balls causing him to collapse on top of her. She beats him with her tiny fists. There's a muffled 'get off me you freak.'

I sit calmly back down on my haywire chair. "It is stormy in Tokyo today."


End file.
